How the force of friction affect us in our daily lives?
Our aim in this write up is to study the way by which friction works for or against us as we go on in life. Let's start by investigating with the facts.
Investigate the Facts- Friction is all around us. Like gravity, friction is a force. More often than not, when people hear the word friction, they think about things rubbing together, and that's exactly what friction is!
Whenever two things rub together, some of the energy they have is lost to friction. Basically, in things like car engines, the wheels of your skates, and the chain of your bike, friction is a force that slows you down. In order to overcome friction, you have to work harder. However, the energy doesn't just disappear, it's turned into heat! Try rubbing your hands together as fast as you can. Pretty soon, they'll be burning up!
As it turns out, the rougher two surfaces are, the more friction there is between them when they rub together. By making things really smooth, or by adding lubricants like grease and oil, engineers work hard to reduce friction and in the long run, save energy.
Friction isn't always bad though. If you've ever tried to start running on a wet floor, you know that too little friction can just make you slip and slide. You need a certain amount of friction to get a grip in order to get yourself going. That's why winter car tires usually have deeper treads than regular tires. The extra grooves make the surface rougher and help them get a grip on ice and snow. Ever wonder why sneakers always have treads on the bottom? They're there to give you some extra grip when you run and play.
Now that we've got you thinking about the force that makes you grip and slip, it's time to observe and record.
The Space Shuttle- Anyone who has ever watched the space shuttle land knows that it's not really flying, but it's simply gliding through the air. As the shuttle enters the atmosphere, it's moving fast and it begins to rub against the air, which helps to slow it down for landing.
Under normal conditions, friction between the bottom of the orbiter and the air would cause it to heat up so much that the shuttle would burn up like a meteor! To prevent this from happening, NASA engineers had to come up with a way of protecting the shuttle upon re-entry. Their solution was to line the entire bottom of the orbiter with hundreds of specially designed heat-resistant tiles, which protect the craft when it lands.
Ice Skates- In order for ice skates to work properly, they have to be able to slip and glide over the ice with as little friction as possible. Most people think that it's the ice that's slippery, but the truth is, ice by itself is no more slippery than a smooth concrete sidewalk! The thing that makes a skate slide is a thin film of water underneath the blade. As it turns out, when you glide over the ice, the heat generated by the blade of the skate rubbing against the ice causes some of the ice right under the blade to melt. This water acts like a lubricant under the skate, reducing friction and making it slide. As soon as the blade passes by, the water re-freezes to ice, so that's why you don't usually see it!
Your Hands and Feet- Ever notice that the only place you have ridges on your skin is on the palms of your hands and on the bottom of your feet? Why are they there? Well, in addition to giving you your own unique fingerprints and footprints, these ridges are nature's way of giving you a better grip! Many scientists believe that our human ancestors spent at least part of their time climbing trees to get away from predators and to find food. By having ridged skin on their hands and feet, these early humans could get a better grip on branches, and in later times, make use of tools. Without the ridges to give them extra friction, whenever they tried to climb, they would slip off the branch!
The Stomach of a Snake- If you ever watched a snake move across the ground, it appears that this